ENTICED by the government’s reintegration program, a combatant of the New People’s Army (NPA) has surrendered to the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-Elcac).

The NPA surrenderer, Denmark Uba, whose aliases are Ka Dino and Ka Tikboy, yielded an AK-47 assault rifle when he surrendered Saturday, August 27, to Zamboanga del Sur Governor Victor Yu, chair of the PTF-Elcac.

The Army's 53rd Infantry "Matapat" Battalion (53IB) facilitated the surrender of Denmark following a series of negotiations.

Yu said the government is always ready to help and welcome members of the NPA who would lay down their arms.

Uba said he left the NPA after witnessing the government's life-changing programs like the Project Good Life of 53IB offered to rescue former rebels and numerous developmental projects in the remote villages of Zamboanga del Sur.

Brigadier General Leonel Nicolas, commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade, encouraged those NPA members who are still in the hinterlands to lay down their arms and return to the folds of the law.

“We will sustain our military efforts in the hinterlands to maintain and sustain the peace, and encourage our remaining enemies to go back to the folds of the law,” Nicolas said.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Terence Ylanan, 53IB commander, expressed his gratitude to Yu for the latter’s support as the PTF-Elcac chairperson.

“The convergence of effort by the LGU (local government unit), NGA (Non-Government Agencies), Civil Society and the Philippine Army here in Zamboanga del Sur is the crucial ingredient in maintaining an insurgency-free province,” Ylanan said. (SunStar Zamboanga)

Source: SunStar (https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1939188/zamboanga/local-news/npa-rebel-surrenders-in-zamboanga-del-sur)